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Toll the Hounds
Toll the Hounds is the eighth novel in the Malazan Book of the Fallen epic fantasy series by Steven Erikson. It was first published in the UK and Canada on June 30, 2008, and in the US on September 16, 2008. Publisher's Summary In Darujhistan, the city of blue fire, it is said that love and death shall arrive dancing. It is summer and the heat is oppressive, but for the small round man in the faded red waistcoat, discomfiture is not just because of the sun. All is not well. Dire portents plague his nights and haunt the city streets like fiends of shadow. Assassins skulk in alleyways, but the quarry has turned and the hunters become the hunted. Hidden hands pluck the strings of tyranny like a fell chorus. While the bards sing their tragic tales, somewhere in the distance can be heard the baying of Hounds... And in the distant city of Black Coral, where rules Anomander Rake, Son of Darkness, ancient crimes awaken, intent on revenge. It seems Love and Death are indeed about to arrive...hand in hand, dancing. A thrilling, harrowing novel of war, intrigue and dark, uncontrollable magic, Toll the Hounds is the new chapter in Erikson's monumental series - epic fantasy at its most imaginative and storytelling at its most exciting. Front matter Dedication This novel is dedicated to the memory of my father, R. S. Lundin, 1931-2007. You are missed. Acknowledgements Gratitude as always goes to my advance readers: Bowen, Rick, Mark and Chris, with special thanks to Bill and Hazel for their kind words and support over the course of what proved to be a difficult year. Appreciation also goes to the staff of the Black Stilt Café and the Pacific Union Café for their generous loan of office space. Love to Clare and Bowen, for everything. Maps File:Map_Darujhistan.jpg|Darujhistan File:Map Black Coral.jpg|Black Coral & environs Plot Summary ::The following summaries contain spoilers Please access individual chapter summaries via the Chapter infobox Many of the characters from Gardens of the Moon and Memories of Ice, make a return in this novel. Prologue The prologue is divided into four separate scenes. The first is in a "necropolis of sorts", where two people, who are revealed to be dead, witness a meeting between Hood, Edgewalker, Shadowthrone and Anomander Rake, though they are not privy to what is discussed. The second is set in the realm of Dragnipur, where it is suggested that the Wagon is becoming very difficult to pull, as more souls keep dying, while on the horizon, Chaos steadily advances on the Gate of Kurald Galain. The third scene plays out in a village, where two girls notice the departure of a dog, and decide to follow. And the last scene is by a fire on an empty plain (likely in Kruppe's dream world), where Kruppe asks K'rul to witness him dance. Genabackis Darujhistan The retired Bridgeburners are enjoying their retirement when Assassins from the Assassins' Guild suddenly come after them, though the assassins soon discover that the Bridgeburners aren't easy marks. Spite and her companions arrive in Darujhistan, and go their separate ways. Crokus, who is Cutter, is anxious at the thought of being reunited with his old friends of the Phoenix Inn, while Barathol seeks anonymity in the city. Mappo Runt is anxious to find Icarium, who is on the Letheri continent. He hires the Trygalle Trade Guild to take him to that distant continent and is accompanied by Gruntle, who does this because he is irritated by all the attention from the acolytes and priestess of Trake, the new God of War. Black Coral Itkovian's sacrifice (in Memories of Ice) gave birth to a new cult (the cult of the Redeemer), propelling him to godhood. But another god is out there to bend and corrupt the cult. And only a former Seerdomin appears to stand in that god's path. Anomander Rake, the Son of Darkness, asks Endest Silann, the broken High Mage of Moon's Spawn, and Spinnock Durav, the wandering Tiste Andii warrior, to do what must be done, as he senses many things coming. Plain of Lamathat As Karsa Orlong and Samar Dev traverse the Plain of Lamatath, they encounter Traveller. Someone, Karsa realizes, not even he can cross. Nimander & Companions and Kallor Clip leads Nimander Golit and the others toward Black Coral, where his confrontation with the Son of Darkness awaits. They encounter Kallor, and he joins them on their journey. The Realm of Dragnipur Within the realm of Dragnipur, more and more souls are dying, and the ones left standing are more than aware that Chaos is on the verge of overtaking the wagon. And when that occurs, Draconus, the elder god who forged Dragnipur, is aware that all the realms could be destroyed. He has a desperate plan to face what seems inevitable, but little does he know that a blind Tiste Andii has an agenda of his own. Epigraphs Book One: Vow to the Sun }} Book Two: Cold-Eyed Virtues }} Book Three: To Die in the Now }} Book Four: Toll the Hounds }} Trivia *Of all the Malazan books, Toll the Hounds had the greatest impact on Erikson while writing. His own father was dying at the time, and the novel involved "delving into the nature of grief and working through that grief." Erikson says the book also served as a "cipher for the series" because it is the only book in the series where the reader knows identity of the voice driving the narrative. "So it's a kind of self conscious narrator, so it's meta fictional, and that is actually the cipher to an alternate reading of the entire series."An Evening with Steven Erikson by Nerdaí Irish Nerds - See 27:40 Cover gallery Image:Toll the Hounds US cover.jpg|US cover art Image:MBotF_Bulgarian8.jpg|Bulgarian cover art Image:Toll the Hounds cover by Marc Simonetti.jpg|Subterranean press cover by Marc Simonetti Image:Spanish_Toll_the_Hounds.jpg|Spanish cover by Alejandro Colucci Notes and references es:Doblan por los mastines de:Die Stadt des blauen Feuers pl:Myto ogarów 8 Category:Toll the Hounds